


The Garden Upstairs

by Swordsandthings



Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: All the other characters are going to be in chap 2 and 3, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Tom and Cooke are roommates, and will is the mysterious but handsome neighbor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24337816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swordsandthings/pseuds/Swordsandthings
Summary: Tom has been questioning his choice of moving into the city, that is until he meets Will and thus finds something that makes living there worth it. The problem is, his life is already messy enough. He is homesick, there is a rat impestation in his flat and he has some major works to finish, yet he is going to try and share his feelings with Will.
Relationships: Tom Blake/William Schofield
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. watering can

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try and post this entire work this week! I have already outlined the other 2 chapters and I already have some scenes written down:-)  
> And like all of my other fics this was born from silly headcanons that I decided to develop so it's not much but it's honest work  
> Ohh and the fluff and the good stuff begins on the second chapter sorry friends

Papers were scattered around Tom. Several books opened on top of each other fitted the spaces that were empty.

  
“You know YouTube exists, right?” Cooke asked as he gave Tom a coffee cup.

  
“The exercises my teacher gave aren't on the internet, so I have to actually solve them,” in all honesty Tom was freaking out a bit. He knew his past choices hadn’t been the best but, five days ago, joining a volunteer group in a dog rescue center and going out with his friends to watch movies and go to cheap restaurants had seemed like the best choice. Now, he only had three hours to deliver his assignment, which he wasn’t even half way through. He was only freaking out a bit.

He even bit his nails while working on the exercises, some small anxiety filling his stomach. Thankfully the coffee energised him and he was able to send the essay five minutes before the deadline.

During that time, the room had gotten slightly darker, with the sun close to setting and the clouds that filled the blue of the sky. Tom scratched his cheek, stretching his back to alleviate the tension it had accumulated.

  
The mario kart soundtrack, that had been playing in the back of Tom's mind, was actually coming from the living room. Cooke was probably playing. Tom looked around him room, tidying his notes and books. It still looked very messy, but his motivation to do more was gone that moment.

  
He made a toast. While it cooked he checked his phone. His mother had posted a pic of their back garden, the hydrangea bushes already had some buds and the cherries trees were visible too. Myrtle was running across the space. His heart grew grew even heavier as he scrolled down a bit more, finding a post from Joe. In the past, leaving his home to go to a different city had seemed like the right thing. After all, that's what Joe had done too. Now, he missed his home more than ever. To distract himself, Tom watched Cooke play, he did get distracted which lead his toast to get a bit burnt.

The cellphone was discarded on the table they had rescued from besides a trashcan. Little things like that were supposed to build comfort and memories but it still wasn't enough for Tom.

  
“I'm going out for a while, not taking my phone," He did take some chocolate bars. It was usual for him to eat in moments of sadness or stress.

  
Charles probably said something in reply but Tom was already leaving the room.

  
Many buildings had balconies. Some rules forbid people from going there but Tom had never checked to see if that was the case in his building. He thought he had heard something about a garden but he always imagined it was the one that was some streets away. 

There was no lift so Tom has no choice but to take the stairs. The last steps led to a metal door. He opened it and found himself in a community garden.

There were several squares with dirt and plants. Even though it has rained in the morning, all the plants appeared to be dry. Tom walked closer to one of the flower beds, touching the leaves of the plant that was there. Every square had the number of the apartment it belonged to. He looked for his. It was full of blooming flowers, some that he used to see besides his house. The scent made his memory think of all the times he had helped his mother with her garden. Cooke definitely hadn’t done that.

  
Tom sat down on a bench nearby, eating the chocolate bar he had brought. He looked at the sky, watching the clouds move slowly. He heard the door open and close. A handsome man came into view. Tom knew he was always falling for people but he had his reasons. This guy had the softest hair, sorta of wavy. He had keys dangling from the pocket of his sweatpants, the other pocket was stuffed full with his hand. Tom noticed the visible hand, it looked calloused but still pretty, his nails were cut short. He watched the stranger get a watering can, fill it with water, when he lifted it the veins in his arm become more prominent. When Tom realised the man was gonna see him he looked away. Staring intently at a butterfly on a top of some flowers.

  
When he looked again. The hot guy was taking care of his plants. Butterflies grew on his stomach, the guy looked so focused and adorable with his face expression. Tom forced himself to go and talk with him. He had taken a long time to greet all of his neighbours but he had never met _him_.

  
“Hey—” Tom tripped, realising he had just hit the watering can that was besides the stranger. The water was all over the floor, some had even gotten on his pants. “Oh! I’m so sorry!”

  
The blonde was wide eyed. His hands shook and he looked away.

  
Tom got the watering can and rushed to fill it again. He tried to place it next to the man without making much noise. He crunched down, to be besides him.

  
“Uhm sorry. I’m usually not this bad when meeting new people,” he smiled and offered the guy his extra chocolate bar. “I'm Tom Blake, from the fourth floor “ the man eyed the bar and then took it.

  
“I'm will Schofield from the third."

  
“Yeah, cool,” Tom brushed his hair. He knew he was such a mess. “I’m glad my foot didn’t get stuck in the watering can. It happened once.” Will looked at him, face looking a bit shocked. Tom laughed, “okay so my dog Myrtle, was running away with my shoe, and I was pretty sure she was gonna bury it. Now the problem was that the day before we had been applying manure and so I was running like crazy and I ended up tripping and getting my foot stuck. I was way younger so it fit like a glove... Or maybe a shoe?"

  
They stayed outside for a while. Tom realised that Will wasn’t annoyed by him so he decided to stay. It was a nice distraction, watching someone work. For the time being he decided to forget everything and try to feel comfort, all the plants close to him almost hugging.

Will explained things about the flowers, why he had chosen each one of them.

* * *

  
When Tom got back to his apartment he asked Cooke, “Hey did you know we have a garden?”

  
“Yeah. Rossi tried to plant some spices there but snails ate it all. “ he laughed, “How did snails even get there?"

  
Tom shrugged still thinking about Will. Part of him wanted to see him again. He thought about cooking something for him but that probably wouldn’t go that well. He wondered if there were any gardening tools he needed but he felt like fool for thinking so much about someone he knew pretty much nothing about.

  
That night after texting his brother he no longer dwelled in the distance that was between him and his family, instead he thought about plants and which ones he should try to grow.

* * *

  
The late morning light was harsh when Tom woke. His game console was on his bedside table, he had played for about the entire night. He played more that exact moment. He shared the console with Cooke because they had both been too broke to buy one for each. He usually played whatever Cooke had wanted like untitled goose game. But he had made his friend buy animal crossing. Tom was trying to transform his island into a cherry orchard. Part of him had always dreamed of living in his home, to take care of the cherry orchard, keep on all that his family had created. Yet everything that he was doing in the present felt very far away from that dream.

  
Charles was in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereals and typing something on his cellphone. The only unusual part was that he was on top of a chair.

  
“Our little friend is back,” he said with a dark voice.

  
“What?” Tom looked around and then a weird grey shape passed by his feet. “Bloody hell!” he waited for his heart to calm down. He moved a bit and felt something brushed his leg, “The bastard is climbing my leg!” Or at least it felt like that to Tom and before he could actually check Charlea was already running out of the room. Tom followed him and soon they were both out of the flat, closing the door in hopes of keeping the rat there.

  
A loose thread was hanging on Tom’s leg, besides his foot, “Oh I think it was just this thread."

  
Charles grunted and rolled his eyes, “So you’re telling me, we locked ourselves out of the apartment for nothing?”

  
“Oh."

  
“Yeah, and I left the cereal box opened on the counter. When we come back that better not have rat poop.”

  
They started going down the stairs. Halfway down they heard someone else coming up so they decided to stop in a random hallway.

  
A woman emerged and walked into the hallway they were at. She knocked at a door and some seconds later Will opened it.

  
“Hi, Lauri."

  
“Hey will."

  
The man looked at the hallway and waved at Tom, curiously Lauri looked back. 

  
“Jesus hurry up, I bet the rat even got babies now,” Cooke said as he saw Tom was still standing at the same place.

  
“Yeah right!"

They kept descending until they reached the last level. Charles knocked on the door of the building owner. They would have to ask him to open their door with the spare keys.

  
“Is that bloke your new crush?”

  
“I don’t have a new crush."

  
“Yeah, right. Anyway you should probably try to win your mans, that girl seemed to be plenty interested on him."


	2. dead... but in a rat way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started writing this, got stressed with life and had a tiny breakdown bon appetit

Every effort that Tom put into trying to not think about Will and the chance that he already had a girlfriend was worthless. Even after finding out that his cereal had remained poop less, his mind remained on Will.

  
_'maybe he’s straight and I’m just pinning like an idiot'_ Tom thought most of the time.

  
A week passed by. Tom went to his classes and work. When he was back home Rossi and Malky visited, they played games and baked random snacks like sausage rolls.

  
One day after work, Tom decided to buy some pastries from the shop. It would probably be weird to offer some to a person you barely knew but Tom was trying his best, since a tender age he had learned that food sharing had been the way to show love and affection.

  
For some minutes he stayed in front of Will flat, he was giving himself a prep talk to knock. When he finally did it only took Will some seconds to shout in acknowledgement. And some more seconds for the man to actually open the door.

  
“Hello, I—brough you some pastries. I never got you anything when I moved here so. I hope you’re not allergic to anything,”

  
“Thanks," Will too the cardboard box and to Tom's suprise he left the door open as he walked away.

Tom wasn't sure if he was meant to enter but he didn't want to seem impolite so he stayed outside. Less than a minute later Will came back.

"What are you still doing outside? Come in," he laughed as he opened the door more.

  
Tom’s heart stuttered. He wasn’t mentally prepared to be in Will’s home. To see all the details of his being. 

  
The living room was basking in natural light. Big bookshelves covered most of the walls and there were even books laying on top of most surfaces. Tom recognised a monstera plant besides the bathroom door. He felt self conscious for staring so he sat down on the couch.

A plate painted with flowers was left of the coffee table Will had on the living room. He gave Tom a shy smile and sat down on the couch opposite to him.

  
“Do you play?” there was a piano in a corner. The surface looked like it had some dust.

  
“Yes. I also used to give classes.”

  
“Why did you stop? Were people annoying?”

  
“No. I—started working in a flower shop. It was from this lady and I just knew her for so long and anyway I just got busy.”

  
“Im sorry,” Tom whispered. He had never been good when it came to death. He thought about a flower shop and he remembered a while ago, some news had come out saying that a woman had been shot in a flower shop. There had been one witness. He looked at Will, forcing those thoughts to go away. “Anyway think you could teach me? I have awful body coordination.”

  
“Think so. Even a three year is capable of learning Mozart.”

  
With some coercion Will played and he also taught Tom some things. They sat on the same bench besides eachother, sides touching from thigh to shoulder. For a minute Tom started burning when Will placed his hand on top of his, helping guide it to play the right keys.

And when Tom tried to play an entire partition, with lyrics he was making on the spot, Will started laughing. Bright and so full of live, for a minute he even had to wipe a year. Tom wasn't able to keep playing, watching Will so happy. He promised himself he would make him laugh all the time, just so he could see the wrinkles that formed around his eyes, the way he placed his left hand on his own stomach as if that would be enough to control himself. All of it was so unusual, so natural.

  
An hour later, when Tom opened the door to his flat he groaned loudly. Rossi and Charles were in the kitchen. Both Charles and Tom had awful cooking abilities, they usually ate pre made foods and called it a day. Rossi was cooking some veggies, Tom could figure that much. Charles was besides him, talking and smiling. Tom groaned louder, leaning into a wall.

  
“Fucks sake, what?”

  
“Have you ever met someone that is so perfect? And you want to marry them? But you know they won’t ever love you!”

  
“A bit dramatic, no?”

  
“He's the youngest sibling, of course he's dramatic.”

  
“Just tell him that you want to date him, he seems nice. Probably would let you down softly.”

* * *

  
Sometime during the week, when Tom was leaving the building, he saw Lauri carrying two bags of groceries. She was also pushing a baby cart. He greeted her happily and helped her carry everything to Will's floor.

  
“Thank you,” she said after they were finished. “You're Will's friend right?”

  
“Yeah, he’s my mate.”

  
“Good! Just—he was so downcast for a while. It’s nice to see him talk with people. I’m incredibly happy that he is able to have such a nice fried like you. The other day he called when you gave him those pastries.”

  
“He did?” Tom felt his cheeks get warmer and the butterflies that had taken residency in his stomach decided to wake up.

  
“He did. Said you were awful in the piano but it was nice to touch it again."

  
They stayed quiet for a while. Tom looked at the baby.

  
“Is she Will's?”

  
“What?” Lauri laughed. “No, you got it all wrong. Were just friends. I adopted the baby with my wife."

  
Time kept ticking and Tom had to cut the conversation short and leave for his classes and then later his work.

* * *

  
It had been a pretty calm afternoon. So much that every time a new costumer entered the store, Tom would greet them immediately. Still he faltered once, when he saw Will enter. He smiled when he was in front of the counter, facing Tom.

  
“Hi,” one of his hands brushed a pocket in his jacket.

  
“Hi, what can I get you?”

  
“Green tea, please. With milk.”

  
Will payed and Tom prepared his order, he had to remind himself to not look at Will for too long, especially because he could feel his cheeks get slightly warmer when he actually looked at him.

  
“Thanks,” Will said as he got his drink. He was holding a book and Tom assumed he was going to be reading at the coffee shop. 

  
“Im finishing in a while. If you want we can go back together!”

  
“Sure,” will smiled politely and then he sat down on a chair.

  
At the end of his shift Tom could see that Will had read very little, if he had read at all. He had taken off his apron and he was now dressing his jacket. It was very likely that outside it would be cold.

  
“Hey, I’m ready if you are.”

  
The book was put away on a bag and will followed Tom out of the store. Just like he expected he was hit with a wave of cold. 

  
“Can we go this way?” Tom asked. Monday was the day he got off early, just in time to see the sunset if we went through some streets. They walked closed to each other, close enough for Tom to see the gap between their bodies, almost feel the heat coming from wills hand. 

  
At some point they got on a path besides a public garden. It had a brick fence besides the sidewalk. Wide enough for Tom to walk on top of it. Up there he was slightly taller than Will. He smiled down at him, wiggling his eyebrows. That got a smile out of Will and Tom felt as if he was truly on top of the world.

The sunset was made of soft colours, the clouds were mere wisps of white on top of it, almost as if it had been painted with extreme care. 

Tom was looking up at the sky, memorising each piece of it. He was so distracted that he stumbled on a rock and before he could balance himself Will was holding him. He had to remind himself to keep breathing. He had gotten close to will, but never this close. Chests practically touching and lips one breath away. The taller man helped him regain his balance on top of the fence and they kept walking as if nothing had happened, but their hands stayed interlocked for the rest of the course of the walk.

For a while Tom wanted to kick himself but then he calmed down, letting the feeling of Wills skin touching his own, center him. It all felt like a big cliché to him but it's not like he would complain.

* * *

  
That night, it took a long while for Tom to be able to fall asleep. The following day, when he woke up, his jaw was sore. When he was younger he had a terrible habit of grinding his teeth when stressed. Turns out that habit still lived.

  
He complained during breakfast and during his classes. And because of all the pain he was feeling he ended up grinding his teeth more which only worsened the torture.

  
By the end of the afternoon he was at home, watching a random cartoon, waiting for Cole to get home so he could ask him to make some tea.

  
The front door screeched. Tom was biting down on a pillow, he turned around to quickly make his request. But Cooke wasn’t alone, Will was besides him.

  
“I told you it was bad. He has even started bitting pillows.”

  
Too ashamed to say anything Tom dropped the pillow and turned to the television. He had been able to see the flash of a smile on Will face, he imagined he would be laughing stock later.

  
Will disappeared in the kitchen and Cooke sat down besides Tom with his drawing pad.

  
A while later, Will walked into the living room holding several mugs. Both man thanked him. Upon seeing Will get back in the kitchen, Tom followed him.

  
“Hey, feeling better?” Will asked.

  
“Yeah, I’m alright.” 

  
Will got a frying pan and after putting it on top of the cook he put a piece of butter.

  
“What are you making?”

  
“French toasts. They’re soft and sweet, I always like to eat them when I’m feeling down. Do you guys have any stale bread?”

  
“I think so,” while Tom started looking for the bread, Cooke joined them in the room.

  
“Feeling better already?” Cooke leaned against the counter, besides will, “Not to be a cunt or anything but,“ He lowered his voice to speak the next part, while holding Tom’s eyes, “ Tom usually acts like a drama queen.”

  
Will smiled.

  
During that time Tom was able to find what he was looking for and he walked to Cooke right after. Tom smacked the loaf of bread on Cooke’s side “I do not!”

  
“See,” Cooke gestured.

  
Will stayed for dinner, for most of the night they talked and laughed and Tom even got to show him the island he was creating in the game, explaining the reason behind his cherry orchard.

* * *

  
Some days later Will invited Cooke and Tom for a pub. He was also taking some of his friends. He had said it was a celebration for the shop he had bought.

The entire group had to gather several tables, for most of the night they got to talk over each other. The only moment the group was able to stay calm was when they were toasting to Will's new shop.

Tom was able to befriend Will's friends in an instance. He got of really well with Jondalor. When he lost some of his common sense he even called him _the greatest storyteller._

At some point Will got distracted from the rest of the group, only nodding here and there. Then, he took a book out of his bag and started reading.

  
Upon seeing that, Charles elbowed Tom, "Your taste in men is really something else,"

  
“You can’t question my taste in men. Your boyfriend literally wears sandals with socks.”

  
“so what? He pulls it of."

  
“You only think that because you have no fashion sense."

  
“Cunt, I’m like zendaya at the met Galla like everyday!"

* * *

  
  
Afterwards, Will walked home with Cooke and Tom. They said they're goodbyes and soon Tom was already fighting with the lights witch of his flat, a normal occurence.

  
Tom was planning on going straight to his bed but Cooke had been saying non stop that he wanted to eat cereal.

  
“No!” Cooke wailed from the kitchen. Tom ran and saw him kneeling on the ground, hands balled into fists. “Nasty left us!”

  
“I guess the rat problem is fixed.”

  
“Mate, we gotta give him a proper funeral!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rat is my favourite character and I wrote this entire fic for him only but he dead now so


	3. Goose fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the nonsense and mistakes and short scenes that perhaps could be better! Also what r verb tenses and all that uhm

The sun was unmerciful. Tom had an awful headache and there was an even worse scent lingering in the air. The other night he had forgotten some dirty socks under his bed and the smell was starting to clog up his nose.

  
Tom got up and went in the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and when the sink was clean he filled it with water and soap and let the socks soak in. Back in his bedroom he opened the windows. His eyes were starting to get used to the lighting so he put his head outside, looking at all the people that were already outside, walking dogs or eating near shops. Then he actually looked down. A mop of blonde hair was peeking out of a window, blowing out smoke.

  
“Hey!” he shouted and Will turned up to look at him.

  
“Well, hello,” They looked at each for some seconds, sharing smiles, “I'm going to the garden, you wanna come?”

  
“Sure.”

  
Hurriedly, Tom changed clothes and put some deodorant. He styled his hair and after a few seconds of scrutinizing his figure in the mirror he decided it was acceptable.

  
When Tom got to the balcony, will was already sitting on a bench, holding a plate with muffins.

  
“Hello again,” Tom sat down besides Will.

  
“Yesterday didn’t mess you up?”

  
“No."

  
Will nodded along, lips pressed together in a way that Tom was trying to think as not cute.

“well, I got you some muffins,” he gave Tom the plate, “for the pastries from the other day. I hope you’re not allergic to anything.”

  
“Thanks. You didn’t have to,” He ate a piece of cake.

  
“Yeah but I wanted to,” Will looked at Tom, eyes sparkling. 

* * *

  
“Hey, Joe,” Tom was back in his bedroom, laying on his bed, cellphone in one hand. It was time for his weekly call with his brother.

  
“How's it going Tommy."

  
“You know… the usual."

  
Joe laughed, “Okay just spill it,” Tom stayed quiet rolling his eyes, “If you have nothing to tell me, then there’s definitely something wrong.”

  
“The other day I told you about that neighbor, right?”

  
“Yeah the handsome one. I remember.”

  
“Fuck off. Anyway, he… has been nothing but kind to me. And I don’t know. What if he only sees me as a friend?”

  
“Well I thought Leslie would never like me and look where we are."

  
“I know but… what if I make things weird. Like I confess and he doesn’t like me.”

  
“Not telling him and still having those feelings will make things weird anyway.”

  
“Yeah, you’re right," Tom bit his lip, clearing his brain from his usual anxiety, " What have you been up to lately? I miss Myrtle."

* * *

  
On Sunday, Cooke forced all of his friends to go to a park. He had a shoe box and Tom knew well enough what was going to happen. Will had also invited his friends from last time and they probably hasn’t gotten the memo that it was a funeral because they brought food with them and blankets and they were ready to make a feast in the grass.

  
It was warm that day, warm enough for them to choose a place near a tree so they could benefit from its shadow.

  
“Thank you, everyone, for coming,” Cooke started. He got up holding the box. “Ss some of you may know, Tom and I just suffered an important loss.”

  
“What is he getting at?” Parry whispered and Cooke glared at him.

  
“Mr nasty will forever be remembered as the best rat that ever lived at our apartment. Tom, please start digging the hole."

  
“What!” Tom ended up having to dig a small hole in the dirt, while Cooke kept talking and getting interrupted by Parry. 

  
Then they buried the box and Malky, that had brought some flowers, planted them above it.

  
“So…you kept a dead rat in your house for an entire day?” Rossi asked after a while.

  
“I let you sleep over too, so shut up, James”

  
Everyone laughed and shared food. Lauri and Jondalar had brought wine and some of them definitely got a bit tipsy.

  
“That goose has been staring at me for a full minute,” Cooke mumbled. “I want to fight it.” The worse, was that he wasn’t even drunk. 

  
For a while, Charles did in fact try to fight the goose. During that time Will asked if anyone would like to get on a boat with him.

  
“Seems so peaceful to read there,” he added.

  
“Alright grandpa” Lauri shouted and Baumer laughed besides her.

  
Will shrugged and he pulled Tom to follow him.

  
On the boat, the cold water took away the heat Tom was feeling, which saved him from sweating and embarrassing himself.

  
For the most part Will was the one controling the boat, rowing.

  
“I can take care of that, you read,” Tom took the oars from Will's hands. He had to force his arms to keep the boat moving, the technique was foreign but not hard to dominate. 

  
Will was stretching on his seat, book in one hand. The sun making his hair golden. They stopped in the middle of the lake. Tom stretched one of his legs, placing it besides Will's lap. He smiled at him. They stayed in the same place for twenty minutes. They still had to go back and they couldn’t stay longer than they had payed for.

  
When they were in fact, getting back to the shore, the oar slipped from Tom’s hand for a minute. He tried to grab it and Will did too, which resulted in them colliding in the middle. For some seconds their eyes were locked on each other.

* * *

  
  
The next morning when Tom entered the kitchen he had to pinch himself. It was not like it was an uncommon thing he had to do but there were rats on top of the kitchen table. They had a towel set out in front of them with pieces of food.

  
“The fuck you doing now?”

  
“Look at them! They’re in love,” Cooke said as he laid a cracker in front of them.“Pretty sure they are gay too.”

  
“Shouldnt you be trying to get rid of them?”

  
“i read you can keep them as pets. More clean than cats or something,"

  
Tom decided to ignore the scene as he replied to Will. First thing in the morning he had gotten a text from him, saying that he would be planting and that he would like for Tom to join him. Then Tom finally decided to advance with a part of his plan. He was a goddamned fool, a true person filled with love and passion. 

  
**Tom** : 'whats ur opinion in bouquets'

  
**Tom** :'like generally speaking'

  
**Will** :'they are alright I guess. 

  
**Tom** : 'maybe, can you be more specific than that?”

  
**Will** : 'oh so you want an entire essay with my opinion on it?'

  
**Tom** :' mean, if you want to share'

  
**Will** : 'Think it’s nice when you cut the flowers that are close to drying and take them home to put on a vase. I dont have anything against the flower industry but seems kinda sad to grow flowers and just cut them, robbing them from time of life sometimes.

  
**Tom** : hipster

  
Later that afternoon, Tom goes to the balcony, with no bouquet. He did get some more pastries. In the worst case scenario he can eat away his sadness in sweets.

  
“Hey,” Tom says, way too loudly, the second he sees Will. But Will, only smiled as brightly as he always did, which isn’t a big smile but it’s something on its own.

  
“Have you been waiting for too long?”

  
“I've just arrived."

  
“Cool,” Will puts on his gloves and gets the tiny plants he had bought. Tom helped him plant, telling him more of his memories back in his mother’s orchard, taking care of her flowers and bushes.

By the time they were close to being finished Will had gotten dirt on his face. While Tom wiped it, Will kept tending the flowers. Tom heard a cutting sound but he was too busy being a bit of a creep and looking at Will to notice the flowers the man was cutting.

  
A tiny white ribbon was taken out of Will's pocket and he used it to wrap the flowers he had just cut. Blush had been spreading all over his face, when Tom finally looked at what Will was doing he saw a bouquet.

  
Will scratched his neck and he handed the bouquet to Tom, “You said you liked them.”

  
“Thanks,” for once, Tom was speechless.

  
“I’d like to take you on a date, if you’d let me. I know you’re busy with your studies and all that, so I get if—”

  
“Jesus, Will, yes,!”

  
“Yes?”

  
Tom laughed and the he pulled Will into a hug. They stayed like that for a while, sharing their body heat, the cold breeze was the only thing to calm down their connection.

* * *

  
  
A month later, and Will and Tom have plenty of days where they meet each other. Sometimes they stay inside their flats, cooking or playing music and dancing. Other times they help Cooke babysit the rats. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I'm going to ignore my academic life and do the things I want to do like read books and write dumb fics  
> Also me:* does nothing*
> 
> And uhmmm that last line😥 I'm sorry guys it wasn't me, Cooke made me write it (we all know they would all hate rats but anyway let me be stupid)
> 
> Alsooo I hope everyone is safe, I'm thinking about all of you and sending good vibes


End file.
